EA Sports NHL Slapshot and NHL 11 Available in Stores Beginning Today

REDWOOD CITY, Calif. Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:ERTS) announced today that EA SPORTS™ NHL® SLAPSHOT and NHL® 11 are both available in North American stores today. Both games will be available worldwide September 9, 2010. EA SPORTS NHL 11 is available for the PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system and Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system, while NHL SLAPSHOT is available exclusively for the Wii™.

“We are extremely excited about our hockey offerings this year”

“We are extremely excited about our hockey offerings this year,” says Brent Nielsen, executive producer, EA SPORTS. “Our NHL product is consistently one of our strongest titles on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, and this year with NHL SLAPSHOT, we feel we’ve created a hockey experience that is unlike anything that has come before it on the Wii.”

NHL 11 marks the 20th Anniversary of the award winning EA SPORTS NHL franchise, by introducing a genre changing real-time physics engine that replicates the real sport like never before. With real physics powering NHL 11, every check, broken stick and bounce of the puck will now react like it does in the real world. NHL 11 also introduces a revamped faceoff system to the franchise. Now players will be given all the options that an NHL center has in the faceoff circle, giving users even more control than they have ever had in an EA SPORTS NHL game. In addition, the EA SPORTS Ultimate Hockey League makes its debut in NHL 11. In the EA SPORTS Ultimate Hockey League, players collect cards that represent the players on their team. With 4000 cards to collect and use, representing players from the CHL, European leagues and NHL, users must manage chemistry, training, and a salary cap as they build their squad, and take them to the ice to challenge the world.

EA SPORTS NHL SLAPSHOT is the franchise’s first outing on the Wii, and it skates onto the platform by literally putting a hockey stick into the player’s hands. The hockey stick accessory*, which is included in all copies of NHL SLAPSHOT, will allow players to pull off shooting, checking, stick handling and many more moves in the game by performing real life motions that the pros use on the ice. In addition, Peewee to Pro mode allows users to start as a youngster playing on a backyard pond and grow through Bantam leagues and the CHL before stepping on to the NHL ice. With skill growth and unlockable boosts, the Peewee to Pro Mode is one of the deepest single player career modes in an EA SPORTS title to date. NHL SLAPSHOT also features Wayne Gretzky on both the cover, and in-game. Players will have a chance to play through the Great One’s career, from his humble beginnings on a frozen pond to his dominating NHL presence.

EA SPORTS NHL SLAPSHOT and NHL 11 are developed by EA Canada in Burnaby, B.C. NHL 11 has been rated E10+ by the ESRB. NHL SLAPSHOT has been rated E by the ESRB.